[4] When competitive football resumed after the war, Aveyard made his first-team debut in the 1945–46 FA Cup, scoring twice in six games, but played only four league games in the 1946–47 season, in which he scored three goals,[5] before leaving for Birmingham City in April 1947.
[6] He made a promising start, scoring the only goal of his debut match against Coventry City in August 1947 and two more goals, including another winner, in his next three games,[7] but a thigh injury meant he missed most of the season, and he was allowed to join Port Vale in June 1948.
He has the honour of being the first player to score at Vale Park in a 1–0 win over Newport County on 24 August 1950.
[8] However, he lost his place in the side by September 1951 and was sold to Accrington Stanley for a four-figure fee in March 1952.
At the end of his first complete season, Stanley finished bottom of the Third Division North and put him on the transfer list, priced at £1000, but there were no offers.